Daily Pulse

Music Venues Require Vaccinations Amid Delta Surge In Maine

State Theatre
Staff Photo by Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images – State Theatre
on Congress St. in Portland, Maine.

Several music venues in Maine are going to require vaccinations for concertgoers.

State Theater, Thompson’s Point and Portland House of Music are among those requiring vaccinations, or a negative test for COVID-19, in Portland. Elsewhere, the Opera House at Boothbay Harbor and Stone Mountain Arts Center in Brownfield are also requiring proof of vaccination.
The marquee sign above State Theater says, “Vaccines are a gateway drug to concerts.”
“We hope we can keep our doors open, and we need your support and understanding to do so,” the Portland House of Music said.
The announcements come amid a surge in the delta variant of the coronavirus, which now accounts for virtually all infections in Maine.
In other pandemic-related news:
THE NUMBERS
The Maine Center for Disease Control reported 12 more deaths on Thursday, but all but one of them were due to a review of vital records dating to earlier this year.

However, the number of infections continues to grow in the state as the delta variant fuels a surge.
The number of coronavirus cases diagnosed in the past 14 days statewide is 2,273, the Bangor Daily News reported.
The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in Maine has risen over the past two weeks from 101 on Aug. 3 to 172 on Aug. 17.
UMS STUDENTS
The University of Maine System is requiring all students, faculty, staff and visitors to wear wear face coverings inside its buildings.
The new policy applies to all, regardless of vaccination status, as the delta variant causes a surge of infections in Maine.
“With our classrooms and other indoor spaces no longer set up to impose social distancing, face coverings are an important strategy we can employ to effectively control the transmission of COVID, regardless of an individual’s vaccination status and testing participation,” Chancellor Dannel Malloy wrote.
The announcement on Wednesday came after Bates College adopted a similar requirement at its Lewiston campus.
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